I’ve been suffering from a serious case of writer’s block lately. Not only am I struggling to come up with topics, but I’m also struggling to come up with content when I do happen to think of a topic that our readers will take time out of their day to pay any attention to. Rather than focusing on something work-related for today’s post, I thought I would introduce you to a book that I’ve recently read.

A couple of years ago I came across a book called The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha at Chapters. It was on the sale rack and a quote on the front cover caught my eye, so I grabbed it on my way out. The quote read, “Little things, it turns out, are extremely important to happiness, and The Book of Awesome will remind you of a thousand little things that will make you happier”. I’ve had this book for three or four years and it was honestly just a dust collector until I found it recently as I was doing some spring cleaning. I was going to get rid of it and I’m so glad that I decided to keep it around instead. I wasn’t sure what to expect because I hadn’t read any of the reviews on it and I hadn’t opened the book since I bought it, but as soon as I finally started reading I couldn’t put it down.

When people think of the things that make them happy, they usually think of money, or vacations, or having the perfect house or vehicle. We often forget about the little things that make us smile. We often overlook the things that happen every day that seem so small and insignificant, but we’d miss if they didn’t happen. Today I wanted to share with you a few of my favourite “awesomes” from The Book of Awesome:

• Page 50: Tripping and realizing no one saw you•

If you say this isn’t one of the best feelings in the world, you’re lying. This is something that almost every Northerner can attest to during the winter months I’m sure. There is nothing (or very few things) that feel worse than taking the biggest tumble of your life, only to look up and see that someone got a front row seat to the show.

• Page 61: Waking up before your alarm clock and realizing you’ve got lots of sleep time left•

I think that this was one of my favourite “awesome moments” from the book and it’s because everyone can relate to it: that feeling of waking up and feeling like there’s no way you’re going to be able to function that day, only to roll over and see 1:57 AM on your alarm clock. Back to sleep I go!

• Page 133: Your family car growing up•

I still remember the old light blue, Mazda MPV minivan that my mom, dad and younger brother took to Thunder Bay for doctor’s appointments, to Toronto and back home to Hornepayne countless times, out East to P.E.I, New Brunswick and Quebec for a family vacation and to the States for music festivals every summer. We had that van for years and whenever I see a Mazda van or a vehicle of the same color, I take a quick walk down memory lane.

• Page 135: Eating a free sample of something you have no intention of buying•

Costco. That’s all I have to say about that.

• Page 174: Your favourite old, comfy T-shirt•

My favourite old, comfy T-shirt is a very faded, grey Kellogg’s T-shirt with the Froot Loops cereal logo and a picture of Toucan Sam on the front. I remember begging my mom to buy four boxes of Kellogg’s cereal so that I would have enough codes to enter in online and get two free, Fruit of the Loom T-shirts: one for myself and one for my younger brother. That was around ten years ago, and to this day it’s still my favourite old, comfy T-shirt!

• Page 255: Successfully moving all your clothes from the washer to the dryer without dropping anything•

This is something that doesn’t happen to me very often. No matter how hard I try, a sock or two always seems to sneak out! I’ve had it happen once or twice, and I will definitely agree and say that the feeling is awesome!

• Page 294: Sweatpants•

Need I say more?

• Page 357: New Socks Day•

I never buy socks for myself because I know that every year, on December 25^th, I’m going to be getting my new socks in my stocking. I’m sure having more than one “New Socks Day” each year is satisfying, but just take a second to think about how exciting it is for me to wake up on December 25^th and know that that day, 365 days later, I get to put on a brand new pair of socks!

Have you read The Book of Awesome? If so, what were your favourites? If not, go to Chapters and pick yourself up a copy! You won’t regret it!